So I guess I will need to rewind a few weeks and fill everybody in on what we have been up to...
Since our last update we have been halfway across the country, twice, spent a day with our friends in Michigan, and celebrated Christmas at least 6 times (which led to a much too large addition of toys to the playroom). Somewhere in between all of that we managed to almost finish several remodeling projects at the house. Our new family room in the basement turned out great and Sam LOVES having the extra space to run around. Literally, he can RUN around in this room - it is HUGE!
Christmas started for us on Christmas Eve at Nana's house, then at home for Christmas morning, and then back down to Grandma's housr for Christmas afternoon. Unfortunately Christmas Eve almost marked the return of Sam's vomiting after two months with no issues.
The day after Christmas we packed up the van with all of our gear and medical supplies and started on our way to Georgia to visit Oma and Opa. Although the drive went well and the kids were well behaved (Thanks to the TV in the van and Ryan's Leapster), spending that much time driving did not sit well with Sam. His vomiting escalated to the point of actually starting to worry us, but we have since determined that he may also suffer from motion sickness. Traveling that far away from Sam's doctors and being in a situation where we have to even consider the possibility of having Sam see a doctor was nerve wracking, but we made it OK.
We made a spit stop for an afternoon to visit friends in Atlanta before continuing on our journey.
We celebrated Christmas at Oma's house a few times and Sam got to meet lot's of family for the first time. The weather was not as warm as we had hoped, but we did get outside to take a hayride and see a whole farm full of Christmas lights. For six years I have heard how much warmer it is in Georgia than it is in Wisconsin. Good thing we brought along winter coats because we definitely needed them. Unusually cold weather hit the area so we didn't venture out of the house too much.
We took a detour on our way back to Wisconsin to Michigan which would have been a nice drive except for hitting snow and a closed interstate. A closed interstate meant driving through the mountains on a winding two lane road which did not help out much with Sam's vomiting issues, but it was a beautiful drive. Once in Michigan we spent the day visiting with the Velarde-Chan family in Kalamazoo. Bo (who also has Microvillus Inclusion Disease), Sam, and Ryan had a blast playing (although I am pretty sure that they managed to wear out all 5 adults that were in the house that day). It is always nice to be able to spend the days with Bo's family and compare notes on things going on with the boys. The day went by way to fast and we can't wait to see them again in March.
Once we returned to Wisconsin we had a break for a few days before we headed back to Grandma's house to celebrate Christmas one more time with her side of the family.
A few days later it was time for Sam to head back to Boston for a check up. Ugh, more traveling.
Sam's check up went well. Still no answers on what is causing his vomiting. It comes and goes and is definitely worse when we travel. Both Hunter and Bo have similar issues so we are going to just chalk it up to part of his disease for now and will look more into it if it begins to cause other problems for him. Sam is growing well, and is actually getting to a point on the growth charts that he is starting to get too heavy for his height. Clinic ran smoothly and Sam is doing so well that there really wasn't much to discuss or change in his medication or TPN. Satisfied that we are still keeping Sam as healthy as we can, we headed back to Wisconsin with another months supply of Omegaven in hand.
In other news, Sam has started to try to communicate more verbally and through signing the last few weeks. It is always out of the blue that he adds a new word to his vocabulary. His favorites right now are "Thank You" and "gentle".
That about wraps up the last month. I uploaded tons of pictures from Christmas and our trip. Make sure you check out the photo of Sam and Bo giving each other a big hug.
Don't forget, Sam's Birthday party is March 6th, mark your calendars. Everyone is welcome to stop by anytime between 11 and 5. I will post more details on the party soon.
